Tags

Ed Gillespie, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Virginia and longtime Republican strategist, spoke at St. Andrew's School on Monday, urging students to get involved in the political process, calling politics a "great meritocracy" and an "honorable profession."

"Get involved in the process," said Gillespie, who has a daughter in her senior year at the Middletown boarding school. "You can rise based on hard work and talents and dedication. You don't have to be connected. Volunteer (on) a campaign. Go to the headquarters. Knock on doors."

Gillespie is a former congressional aide and lobbyist who ran the Republican National Committee and served as a White House adviser to President George W. Bush. He later worked as a senior adviser on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. Gillespie is now running for U.S. Senate against Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, who, as it happens, has been friends with Gov. Jack Markell since the two worked at Fleet Call, the company that later became Nextel.

As of late March, the Real Clear Politics average of polls had Warner up 19 points on Gillespie, who nevertheless predicted that Republicans will flip control of the U.S. Senate this fall.

"I think there will be some real surprises on election night," Gillespie said.

He spoke on Monday for about 20 minutes and took questions from the students on topics ranging from foreign policy to bias at Fox News.

"There is bias everywhere," Gillespie said. "I'm glad Fox News is out there. I think they do a good job."

Responding to other questions, he said the U.S. should be more forceful on the world stage "without being overly aggressive," and should not lift its sanctions against Cuba, adding in another response that Americans should vote Republican if they want progress on the economy.

"We're still a mobile society," said Gillespie, who touted his background as the grandson of an Irish immigrant who worked as a janitor in Philadelphia bank buildings. "I worry that it's less upwardly mobile. I worry that when you have too much government intrusion in your economy, you're putting a higher premium on connections and relationships."

Contact Jonathan Starkey at 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.